Issue Summary

This is reproducible on Data Center:

In Jira Cloud, when exporting the result set from a filter as a CSV file, if the column Parent is empty for all issues in the result set, that column is not exported.

It would be better to export the column Parent whenever it is added to a filter, regardless of whether it is empty for all issues or not. This inconsistency becomes problematic when the exported CSV file is used for data processing in external systems where a specific sequence of columns is expected.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a Jira Software project (e.g., FOO).
2. Create multiple issues with different issue types in the project FOO, none of them having any parent/child relationship.
3. Create an issue as an Epic (e.g., FOO-8), and another issue as a Story (e.g., FOO-9), which is a child of the issue FOO-8.
4. Create a filter with the following JQL:

   project = FOO ORDER BY Rank ASC
   

5. Add the column Parent to that filter in all three options: My defaults, Filter, and System.
6. Export the result set of that filter with the option Export CSV (my defaults):
   • The column Parent is exported, as expected.
7. Change the JQL of that filter to:

   project = FOO AND issue NOT IN(FOO-9) ORDER BY Rank ASC
   

8. Export the result set of that filter with the option Export CSV (filter fields):
   • The column Parent is not exported.

Expected Results

The column Parent is exported to the CSV file even if it is empty for all the selected issues from the filter.

Actual Results

The column Parent is not exported to the CSV file if it is empty for all the selected issues from the filter.

Workaround

If the exported CSV file must have a specific sequence of columns:

1. Import it into a spreadsheet processor such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
2. Manually add the required columns with empty values for each entry.
3. Export it as a new CSV file.